Shaun Byrne says he still doesn’t quite believe Livingston will be a Premiership club next term.

The midfielder has won promotion in three consecutive seasons, but confesses this one “feels different” to the pair of League One titles he won with Dunfermline Athletic before repeating the feat with the Lions last term.

The 24-year-old said: “It still hasn’t sunk in at all. I can’t quite believe it if I’m honest but I do think it was thoroughly deserved over the course of the season.

“It’s been a tremendous two years for me at Livingston to win back-to-back promotions after leaving Dunfermline.

“I jumped at the chance to join the club and I’m delighted that it has been the right move because it’s been a fairytale. I’m still buzzing after the Partick games.

“That’s three promotions in a row for me. They’ve all been good in different ways, but this is the top one because it was really just totally unexpected heading into the season.”

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The Lions had plenty of critics this season, but that’s something Byrne believes galvanised the players because they knew it was wrong.

He commented: “I think a lot of the stuff said about us was nonsense really. We were painted as a team who just lumped the ball long all the time and would kick teams off the park but we weren’t.

“There were plenty of guys in that team who can play football and we scored some great goals and played terrific football at times during the season but for some reason that never really got noticed and we weren’t given the credit I felt we deserved.”

Livingston players celebrate promotion

He added: “The criticism made us stronger and more determined to prove folk wrong and it’s obviously worked because we got promoted.

“Every time we beat a team, we would hear that they didn’t turn up and didn’t perform at their best. It was never the case that we wouldn’t make them play or we were the better team on the day.”

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The Lions returned to the top flight for the first time since 2006 following a 3-1 aggregate victory over Partick Thistle, and while Livi’s performances appeared to suggest a collective nerve of steel, Byrne commented: “In the second leg, I was honestly really nervous.

“I thought Partick would come out absolutely flying in the early stages but they didn’t.

“We played it well in the first half by trying to restrict them and defend well. Obviously we got the goal early in the second half but even then there’s a part of you thinking if they get a goal the momentum changes.

“They got a penalty with a few minutes left and you’re a wee bit worried about what could happen if that goes in but Neil Alexander has pulled off a great save and, to be honest, I thought we got the performance and the tactics spot on.